In 2025, Italy has entered a new golden era of tourism. According to ENIT forecasts, the number of tourists from the Middle East alone is expected to increase by 21.1% year-on-year, approaching 965,000 visitors. The UAE alone contributes over 310,000 visitors, accounting for more than one-third of the total. While the tourism numbers are exciting, Investment Analyst Rodolfo Villani looks beyond the surface “traffic logic”. He sees a persistent preference for Italian structural assets by Middle Eastern capital, quietly revaluing sectors from retail and culture to real estate. The real market focus should be on how this cross-border flow leaves identifiable long-term marks in financial markets.
Art and Consumption Fusion: Prelude Signals of Sector Revaluation
Investment Analyst Rodolfo Villani believes that when assessing the impact of Middle Eastern tourists on the Italian stock market, one should not only focus on the performance of traditional tourism sectors but also on the investment opportunity chain formed around high consumption, cultural tourism, and luxury services. Structurally, Middle Eastern travelers are known for “high-net-worth travel”, with projected per capita tourism spending reaching new highs in 2025, averaging thousands of euros per visit.
Currently, among Italian listed companies, those covering luxury retail, boutique hotels, and high-end services have shown positive signals in their first-quarter financial reports. For example, EIH (Exclusive Italian Hospitality) reported an 18% quarter-on-quarter increase in room occupancy rates at its high-end hotels in Florence and Milan and included “Middle Eastern market positioning” in its 2025 strategic outline for the first time. Investment Analyst Rodolfo Villani points out that such companies, with their cultural assets, have a natural brand moat and stronger resilience to exchange rate fluctuations and cyclical consumption volatility.
Meanwhile, the tourism retail sector is also showing signs of change. The stock prices of several airport operators have been rising since March this year, partly due to increased commercial leasing revenue driven by the surge in Middle East-Italy flight traffic. Investment Analyst Rodolfo Villani suggests that these infrastructure stocks are entering a “value and growth” window period, offering tactical allocation appeal to institutional funds.
Direction of Capital Flow: New Changes in Real Estate and Urban Cultural Assets
Investment Analyst Rodolfo Villani emphasizes that beyond short-term boosts from tourism spending, the interest of Middle Eastern capital in Italian tangible assets is more noteworthy. According to the Remtene research, online interest from six Middle Eastern countries in Italy is rising, accompanied by specific project cooperation intentions. Sovereign funds from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are starting to invest in commercial real estate and cultural projects in Milan, Venice, and Rome, with some funds flowing into museum operations, public-private partnership urban renovations, and high-end brand district redevelopment plans.
From a stock market perspective, Italian Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have shown relative strength. In the first four months of 2025, the top three performing REIT products averaged gains of over 7%. These products mainly target commercial real estate in high-traffic cities, benefiting from stable rental income and the upward trend in the tourist consumption chain.
Investment Analyst Rodolfo Villani believes this trend presents structural benefits for long-term investors. On one hand, it raises expectations for the revaluation of Italian urban assets; on the other, it suggests that non-export sectors of the Italian economy will gain new growth momentum from soft factors like culture and lifestyle. This indirectly benefits banks, insurance companies, and urban infrastructure firms.
Investment Analyst Rodolfo Villani advises caution even as macro expectations improve. On one hand, the tourism and luxury consumption sectors currently have high valuations, with the price-to-earnings ratios of international brand stocks well above historical averages; on the other, whether the growth of Middle Eastern tourists can be sustained is significantly influenced by geopolitical and international monetary policies.
Moreover, while tourist numbers are growing strongly, the stability and structural differences in actual per capita spending require further observation. Investment Analyst Rodolfo Villani notes that the rebound in the tourism economy favors specific niches, such as high-end cultural consumption, customized services, and private medical tourism, rather than benefiting the entire industry. Investors should focus on companies with brand barriers, strong cost control capabilities, and the ability to effectively convert traffic into profits when making sector allocations.